Top 5 Comic Book Moments of the Week — January 15: Blade's new clothes, the magical power of the NHS and more
There are so many comics that come out in a week that it can get quite difficult to sift through all of them and find the really great moments. So obviously, we decided to do it for you.
Here are the best moments in comics this week, ranked for your convenience:
5. 'Archie' #710
This one isn't so much a particular moment as it is the story as a whole. In honor of her new CW show, Katy Keene comes to Riverdale in the pages of the 'Archie' ongoing series.
An Instagram sensation, Katy Keene is known for her fashion and comes to Riverdale in all her stylish glory. A new resident causes quite a stir in the small town, as Jughead notes, and everyone wants to know just what Katy's deal is.
The women of Riverdale know good fashion when they see it, however, and immediately warm up to Katy — especially once she makes them all roller-derby inspired outfits.
4. 'Iron Man 2020' #1
The new 'Iron Man' series, starring Arno Stark as the titular hero, already looks quite promising with a really fun first issue.
We got to see some really good artwork from Pete Woods and a pretty interesting storyline, building up to the reveal that contrary to popular belief, Tony Stark isn't out drinking his artificially-recreated life away.
In fact, he's the leader of the Robot Revolution, going by the name Mark One and wearing a replica of his very first armor.
It was a pretty epic moment, subverting all our expectations, and the only reason it doesn't rank higher on this list is because it doesn't quite have the "wow" factor that some of these other entries deliver.
3. 'The Flash' #86
Ever since he was supercharged with Speed Force energy, Barry Allen has been struggling to handle his powers, which couldn't have happened at a worse time because Captain Cold — sorry, "King" Cold — has gotten a power upgrade himself, courtesy of Lex Luthor.
In an explosive final battle, The Flash finally manages to defeat the old Rogue but at a cost. Overcome by rage, Barry almost beats King Cold to death in a brutal scene, the sounds of his punches drowning out the Golden Glider's screams (as represented beautifully by Steve Wands' lettering).
In the aftermath of the battle, The Flash turns himself in, asking the cops to lock him up with the Rogues until he can regain some control over his powers and giving us our third best comic book moment of the week.
2. 'Avengers' #29
At this point, almost all of the Avengers have had cool "suit up" moments in the current run including Black Widow, who put on a specially designed War Machine armor in the last issue.
Well, it looks like Blade doesn't want to be left out either as he suits up in Issue 29 in the weirdest and most Blade-ish way possible: by wearing Boy-Thing. To be fair, it was the juvenile Man-Thing's idea but the result is equal parts strange and cool, placing this symbiosis on the second-highest spot on this list.
1. 'Valkyrie: Jane Foster' #7
Jane Foster has a tricky new mission that requires both her abilities as Valkyrie and her skills as a doctor: she has to save Death. Well, to be precise, she has to save the universal concept of death from a metaphysical disease.
To help her in this mission she recruits a team of Marvel's greatest superpowered medics, Doctor Strange, the Night Nurse, Cardiac, Manikin, and Dr. Faiza Hussain, the wielder of Excalibur.
The team enters the realm of Death, a symbolic world where they encounter symptoms of Death's disease including a strange creature who appears as Charon the Ferryman and demands a price to allow the team to see Death.
And that brings us to our best comic book moment of the week: Dr. Faiza Hussain stabs the eldritch creature with her magic sword (or scalpel as she calls it), channeling the power of the British National Health Service to defeat it. It's hilarious, cool, and weird all at the same time and easily bags the top spot on our list.
Catch our roundups of the Top 5 Comic Book Moments of the Week every Sunday.